Bingo Jackpot Insurance

ABSTRACT

A bingo game that offers players an option to purchase jackpot insurance. Typically, in the game of bingo, when multiple winners win a same jackpot, the multiple winners have to share the jackpot. This is undesirable to the winners since they would prefer to have the entire jackpot for themselves. The players can purchase jackpot insurance which allows the players to win the jackpot amount regardless of how many other winners there may be.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present inventive concept relates to a wagering game, and more particularly to a game which allows a bingo player to purchase insurance so that if the player wins and has to share a prize with another player, the insurance allows the player to win the full prize.

2. Description of the Related Art

Bingo is a popular game in casinos. A bingo game can be played as illustrated in FIG. 1, wherein multiple players purchase 100 a standard bingo card(s) typically using cash. The bingo cards have numbers printed on them in a random or pseudo random fashion. Play can begin 102 and a ball is drawn 104 and the letter/number of the ball announced. Each ball has a letter/number combination and each player examines their card(s) and if any of their card(s) have the number drawn on the ball then the player marks that spot. If no player is determined 106 to get bingo, then an additional ball is drawn, and this process continues until at least one player has bingo. Bingo is a predetermined sequence of marked spots on a bingo card. For example, bingo can be where the player gets five spots in a row (horizontally or vertically). Once a player is determined 106 to get bingo then it is determined 108 if more than one player got bingo on the last ball drawn. If only one player has bingo, then that player wins 110 the prize (a monetary award) for getting bingo on that game. If more than one player is determined 108 to have bingo, then the winning players (players that have bingo) have to share 112 the prize. Players can also buy different levels of cards. If a player buys anything other than the lowest level then the player's win will be multiplied by a constant.

Sharing the prize is undesirable for players since bingo players prefer to win the entire prize themselves. Therefore, what is needed is a method whereby bingo players can avoid sharing prizes with their competitors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an aspect of the present invention to provide an improved version of bingo.

The above aspects can be obtained by a method that includes (a) offering jackpot insurance to a first payer and selling to the first payer a first bingo card with jackpot insurance which potentially awards a jackpot amount; (b) offering jackpot insurance to a second player and selling to the second player a second bingo card without jackpot insurance which potentially awards the jackpot amount, the second bingo card without jackpot insurance selling for a lower price than the first bingo card with jackpot insurance; (c) conducting a bingo game for the jackpot amount and determining a number of winners of the jackpot amount, wherein at least the first player using the first bingo card and the second player using the second bingo card are winners; and (d) awarding the first player a first award and awarding the second player a second award, the first award being higher than the second award.

The above aspects can also be obtained by a method that includes (a) offering a bingo player an option to purchase a bingo card with or without jackpot insurance, the bingo card having an award amount of a jackpot amount; and (b) conducting the bingo game and determining that there are at least two winners of the bingo game which include the player; wherein, if the player purchased jackpot insurance, then the player wins the jackpot amount, wherein if the player did not purchase jackpot insurance, then the player shares the jackpot amount with other winner(s) of the bingo game.

The above aspects can also be obtained by a method that includes (a) selling bingo cards and conducting the bingo game; (b) identifying at least two winners of the bingo game that has a top prize of a jackpot amount; (c) determining insured players out of the at least two winners that purchased jackpot insurance associated with their winning cards which won the game and non-insured players that did not purchase jackpot insurance associated with their winning cards which won the game; (d) awarding each of the insured players the jackpot amount; and (e) awarding each of the non-insured players a shared award amount, the shared award amount computed based on the jackpot amount and a number of winners of the bingo game.

These together with other aspects and advantages which will be subsequently apparent, reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the present invention, will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method to play a prior art bingo game;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary bingo card, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method to implement jackpot insurance, according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating components to implement embodiments described herein.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

Bingo is well known in the art, for example see US patent publication 2005/0255906, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

The present general inventive concept relates to a bingo game that can play like a standard game of bingo but can offer the players an extra option of purchasing jackpot insurance (or “bingo insurance” or “tie insurance.”)

In a standard game of bingo, when two or more players get bingo at the same time, the players typically have to share the prize. If the player(s) would have bought jackpot insurance when they first bought their bingo card(s) (before the bingo game started), then if two or more payers have to share a prize, each player that had purchased the jackpot insurance can still win the full prize without having to share it. If a winning player did not decide to purchase the jackpot insurance, then the player would typically still receive a same award that they would have received if no player had jackpot insurance and the prize had to be shared.

Table I is a table showing the average (expected) number of people that would get bingo at the same time, according to objective and number of bingo cards being played during the game. For example, in the “single bingo” game (where a player has to mark five spots in a row or column) then if 2,000 cards are played, then on average, 2.6 people will get bingo (thus tie for the win) at the same time. If 10,000 cards are in play on the same game, then an average of 8.2 people will get bingo (thus tie for the win) at the same time. The number of ties in the latter case is more than the former case because there are more cards in play, thus mathematically it is more likely that more people will hit bingo at the same time. With more cards in play, it is also more likely that a player will hit bingo sooner than with fewer cards in play.

TABLE I Game 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 Single Bingo 2.622616 4.113316 5.715755 7.109159 8.197152 Double 1.297927 1.340951 1.372797 1.385618 1.415881 Bingo Triple Bingo 1.266972 1.310419 1.32576 1.340989 1.330945 Single HW 1.492969 1.779107 2.011335 2.316677 2.602349 Bingo Double HW 1.270875 1.303605 1.325104 1.347912 1.396932 Bingo Triple HW 1.257416 1.273016 1.286265 1.312244 1.308565 Bingo Six Pack 1.963782 2.536219 3.080042 3.678579 4.209524 Nine Pack 1.348464 1.429668 1.465213 1.528894 1.553772 Coverall 1.322867 1.341656 1.341537 1.348742 1.378803

Table II illustrate a sample list of bingo games played at a particular bingo room in a casino, their respective prize pools, and their average number of winners (these are the same as in Table I). Of course prize pools can change at the bingo room's discretion. The bottom row shows the total number of expected winners in the sessions.

TABLE II Prize Game Objective Pool 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 1 Double HW 50 1.270875 1.303605 1.325104 1.347912 1.396932 Bingo 2 Single Bingo 50 2.622616 4.113316 5.715755 7.109159 8.197152 3 Double Bingo 100 1.297927 1.340951 1.372797 1.385618 1.415881 4 Single Bingo 50 2.622616 4.113316 5.715755 7.109159 8.197152 5 Double Bingo 100 1.297927 1.340951 1.372797 1.385618 1.415881 6 Double Bingo 50 1.297927 1.340951 1.372797 1.385618 1.415881 7 Triple Bingo 100 1.266972 1.310419 1.32576 1.340989 1.330945 9 Six Pack 50 1.963782 2.536219 3.080042 3.678579 4.209524 10 Nine Pack 100 1.348464 1.429668 1.465213 1.528894 1.553772 11 Single HW Bingo 50 1.492969 1.779107 2.011335 2.316677 2.602349 12 Double HW Bingo 100 1.270875 1.303605 1.325104 1.347912 1.396932 13 Coverall 250 1.322867 1.341656 1.341537 1.348742 1.378803 Total 1050 19.07582 23.25377 27.424 31.28488 34.5112

Table III takes the product of the average winners and prize pool. The total row shows how much the casino would have to pay if there were no jackpot sharing. For example, in the first game (Double HW Bingo), the prize pool is 50 and (from Table II) there would be an average of 1.27 winners with 2,000 cards being played in the game. Multiplying 1.27*50=63.5. Thus, if the casino had to pay all winners without sharing prizes in this game (Double HW Bingo with 2,000 cards), then the casino would have to pay out $63.50.

For example with 2000 players with jackpot sharing they pay $1050, but without it they pay $1542.47. So a fair premium to charge for the jackpot insurance with these parameters would be 46.9% to the player of the cost of the bingo cards. Thus, if a bingo card cost $100, a fair charge for the card with insurance could be $147.

Many players will likely decide to purchase the insurance in order to avoid having to share their jackpots with other player(s). This gives the house an increased way to make revenues, as the cost for insurance should typically be higher than the actual cost to the casino so that the casino would make a profit from the sale of insurance.

TABLE III Prize Game Objective Pool 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 1 Double HW Bingo 50 63.54377 65.18027 66.25521 67.39558 69.84658 2 Single Bingo 50 131.1308 205.6658 285.7878 355.458 409.8576 3 Double Bingo 100 129.7927 134.0951 137.2797 138.5618 141.5881 4 Single Bingo 50 131.1308 205.6658 285.7878 355.458 409.8576 5 Double Bingo 100 129.7927 134.0951 137.2797 138.5618 141.5881 6 Double Bingo 50 64.89637 67.04756 68.63984 69.28091 70.79403 7 Triple Bingo 100 126.6972 131.0419 132.576 134.0989 133.0945 9 Six Pack 50 98.18911 126.8109 154.0021 183.9289 210.4762 10 Nine Pack 100 134.8464 142.9668 146.5213 152.8894 155.3772 11 Single HW Bingo 50 74.64845 88.95533 100.5667 115.8338 130.1175 12 Double HW Bingo 100 127.0875 130.3605 132.5104 134.7912 139.6932 13 Coverall 250 330.7168 335.414 335.3842 337.1854 344.7009 Total 1050 1542.473 1767.299 1982.591 2183.444 2356.991 Fair Insurance Cost 0.469022 0.683142 0.888182 1.07947 1.244754

FIG. 2 is an exemplary bingo card, according to an embodiment.

There are different patterns that players attempt to achieve for different games. For example, a bingo is getting a sequence of five squares in a row, column, or diagonal. Double bingo is getting two different such sequences.

A six pack is marking every spot in any 3 by 2 rectangle on a card. A nine pack is marking any 3 by 3 square. Each bingo card can be good for at least one game. For example, a card might be for a game on a six pack game, but then once a winner is found the game can continue on the same card for a nine-pack. A hard way (“HW”) means that the player may not use the free square.

Thus, “single HW bingo” requires the player to get mark five spots in a row without using the free square, e.g., in FIG. 2, B1, I24, N37, G48, O61 would be a “bingo” and also a “single HW bingo” since the free space is not used.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method to implement jackpot insurance, according to an embodiment.

The method can begin with operation 300, which sells bingo cards with or without insurance, at the players' option. Players can purchase bingo cards for games of their choice, typically at a set denomination (e.g., $0.10/card). Cards are typically sold in packs of two or more cards. For example, a player could buy a pack of 6 cards per regular game for $4, which would include a number of bingo games (for example all the games listed in Table III).

Each game has a respective jackpot amount associated with it (e.g., $100 to the first player that gets bingo). Jackpot insurance that is associated with a bingo card (active for that card if that card wins) can be purchased in at least one of two ways. After a player purchases a bingo card, the player can pay an extra surcharge (e.g., $0.05) to add insurance to the card, upon which the bingo hall can stamp the card or otherwise mark it so that it is verified that the player purchased insurance for that card. The ID number of the card can also be noted.

When a player has bingo the card number is read and the system should know which type of card the player has and whether it was validated. The system can also determine whether that card had jackpot insurance associated with it (e.g., whether the player had purchases jackpot insurance for that card).

If a player purchases insurance when a set of cards is purchased, identifiers (e.g., a serial number) of cards in the set can be recorded (manually and/or electronically) so that so that if that player wins, the bingo hall can manually and/or electronically confirm that the player purchased insurance. If the player does not wish to purchase insurance, then the set of cards can be given to the player without noting that insurance has been purchased for those cards (or noting manually or automatically that insurance has not been purchased for those cards). Alternatively, different bingo cards can be used for cards without insurance or cards with insurance. For example, a card without insurance may cost $0.10. but a card with insurance would cost $0.15. The card with insurance would be marked accordingly. The numbers for the cards without insurance and with insurance would typically still be random, in other words there would typically not be two different sets of identical cards (one with insurance, one without), although in an alternative embodiment it can be done this way.

The cost of the insurance can also be proportional to the level of the card. In other words, if one level of card for the same game has a double jackpot then a lowest level of card, then the insurance for the higher level card can cost more (e.g., double).

Insurance can be sold game by game although this may increase the transaction time. Thus, insurance can also be sold for an entire session, e.g., a one time fee for an entire session of 12 games or an entire packet of cards. Typically, the player buys the same type of cards for all games. For example, casinos may offer a packet of cards, 6 cards per game. If a packet of cards costs, for example, $4, then if the player desires insurance for the entire packet then the player can pay $6 for the packet to associate insurance with all games that are included in the packet.

From operation 300, the method can proceed to operation 302, which conducts the bingo game. This can be done as known in art. For example, random bingo balls can be drawn (each marked with a letter/number), the letter/number combination is announced, and players that have that number on their card(s) can mark (daub) their card accordingly. Electronic bingo cards are known in the art and can be used with the features described herein. An electronic bingo card automatically marks a player's card(s) as each letter/number drawn is announced.

From operation 302, the method can proceed to operation 304, which determines whether a player or players win. A player wins when the player receives a predetermined pattern of marks on their card (e.g., five squares in a row, etc.) When a player has received the predetermined pattern, the player typically shouts out “bingo!” so the game can stop and the player can receive their prize. If no player has received bingo, then the method can continue to operation 302 which continues to conduct the bingo game by continuing to draw balls.

If a player receives bingo (from operation 304), then the method can proceed to operation 306, which determines whether the prize needs to be shared. If there is only one winning player (player with bingo), then the jackpot (prize) does not need to be shared and the method can proceed to operation 308, wherein the player wins the entire jackpot. In this case, it is typically irrelevant whether the winning player had insurance associated with his or her card.

If in operation 306 it is determined that there is more than one winner of the jackpot, then the method can proceed to operation 310 for each winning player. It is then determined whether a winning player had purchased jackpot insurance for the bingo cards that was the current game. This can be done by inspecting the bingo card used to win, checking a list (either manually or electronically) of bingo cards that had insurance purchased for them, checking a ticket that may have been issued to indicate that jackpot insurance had been purchased for that particular card, or any other method.

If the winning player had purchased jackpot insurance, then the method can proceed to operation 314, wherein the winning player wins the full jackpot amount. How many other players there are and whether those players purchased jackpot insurance is not relevant in determining the winning player's award amount since if he or she bought jackpot insurance for the winning card the winning player will win the full jackpot amount (e.g., $100). In an alternative embodiment, the winning player that had purchased jackpot insurance for the winning card can win more than the jackpot amount (e.g., $110 instead of $100, or double jackpots (e.g., $200) instead of the $100 original jackpot amount). In an alternative embodiment, cards with jackpot insurance can be offered at different jackpot amounts. For example, a standard card can be offered for $1 with a jackpot level of $50, while an insured card can be offered for $1.50 with a jackpot level of $60. Jackpot awarding still operates as described herein, wherein the uninsured cards have to share among the winners.

If the winning player had not purchased jackpot insurance, then the method can proceed from operation 310 to operation 312, wherein the winning player shares the prize with other winning players. For example, if there are four winning players, and the jackpot amount is $100, then the winning player without jackpot insurance would win $25. It would typically not matter whether the other players had purchased jackpot insurance when determining the award for a player that did not purchase jackpot insurance. Thus, the other three winning players could have purchased jackpot insurance and each won $100, however, the fourth winning player did not purchase jackpot insurance and thus only wins $25.

An example of how jackpot insurance can work is as follows. Mike, Rob, Joel, and Jason are playing just one game with one card in a single bingo with 2,000 other players in a game with a $50 jackpot. Each bingo card costs $1 for a single game of bingo, and $1.50 for the card with insurance. Jason and Mike decide to buy the insurance and each pay $1.50 for their card, while Rob and Joel decide not to buy insurance and pay $1.00 for their card. All cards are at the same level with a same jackpot amount ($50). The game is played and it turns out that Mike, Rob, and Joel are the only winners. Mike would win $50 since he bought the insurance, while Rob and Joel would each win $17 ($50/3 rounded up).

In an alternative embodiment, Mike could have won more than the original jackpot (e.g., won $75). In an alternate embodiment, Rob and Joel could have won more than $16.66 each, since Mike had bought insurance the benefit may also spill over to other, non-insured winners as well.

It is further noted that a computer can record and store which bingo card/packs have jackpot insurance. In this way, when a player wins, it can be immediately confirmed whether that player purchased insurance or not.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating components to implement embodiments described herein.

A bingo card seller 400 sells bingo cards/packs of cards to the players. Each card or pack can have an ID number associated with it so that when sold, the ID number can be entered (e.g., scanned using a barcode scanner) so that a database 402 can be updated to include that this ID number has been purchased and is active in play. If a player wins using a card that has not been validated, this may cause some type of audit to determine whether the player did indeed pay for that card and why the card was not validated.

When a player purchases bingo insurance, this information can be noted by the seller 400 and transmitted to the database 402 so that if/when the purchaser (player) wins using a card, the bingo award payer 404 can scan the ID number of the card to automatically query the database 402 to see if the player had purchased bingo insurance for that card. The bingo payer 404 would pay the player an award based on whether the player had purchased bingo insurance or not (unless the player is the sole winner in which it is typically irrelevant whether the player had purchased bingo insurance or not).

Furthermore, a remote player 408 or players can play bingo along with other players in the physical bingo hall using a computer connected to a computer communications network 406 such as the Internet.

Further, the order of any of the operations described herein can be performed in any order and wagers can be placed/resolved in any order. Any operation described herein can also be optional. Any embodiments herein can also be played in electronic form and programs and/or data for such can be stored on any type of computer readable storage medium (e.g. CD-ROM, DVD, disk, etc.)

The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed specification and, thus, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention that fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention. 

1. A method to play a bingo game, the method comprising: offering jackpot insurance to a first payer and selling to the first payer a first bingo card with jackpot insurance which potentially awards a jackpot amount; offering jackpot insurance to a second player and selling to the second player a second bingo card without jackpot insurance which potentially awards the jackpot amount, the second bingo card without jackpot insurance selling for a lower price than the first bingo card with jackpot insurance; conducting a bingo game for the jackpot amount and determining a number of winners of the jackpot amount, wherein at least the first player using the first bingo card and the second player using the second bingo card are winners; and awarding the first player a first award and awarding the second player a second award, the first award being higher than the second award.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first award is equal to the jackpot amount.
 3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the second award is a reduced jackpot amount reduced by the number of winners of the jackpot.
 4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the second award is the jackpot amount divided by the number of winners of the jackpot.
 5. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the second award is a reduced jackpot amount reduced by the number of winners of the jackpot.
 6. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the second award is the jackpot amount divided by the number of winners of the jackpot.
 7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first award is higher than the jackpot amount.
 8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the second award is a reduced jackpot amount reduced by the number of winners of the jackpot.
 9. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the second award is the jackpot amount divided by the number of winners of the jackpot.
 10. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the second award is a reduced jackpot amount reduced by the number of winners of the jackpot.
 11. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the second award is the jackpot amount divided by the number of winners of the jackpot.
 12. A method to conduct a bingo game, the method comprising: offering a bingo player an option to purchase a bingo card with or without jackpot insurance, the bingo card having an award amount of a jackpot amount; and conducting the bingo game and determining that there are at least two winners of the bingo game which include the player; wherein, if the player purchased jackpot insurance, then the player wins the jackpot amount, wherein if the player did not purchase jackpot insurance, then the player shares the jackpot amount with other winner(s) of the bingo game.
 13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein awards for the other winner(s) are computed regardless of whether the player did purchase jackpot insurance.
 14. A method to determine bingo awards for a bingo game, the method comprising: selling bingo cards and conducting the bingo game; identifying at least two winners of the bingo game that has a top prize of a jackpot amount; determining insured players out of the at least two winners that purchased jackpot insurance associated with their winning cards which won the game and non-insured players that did not purchase jackpot insurance associated with their winning cards which won the game; awarding each of the insured players the jackpot amount; and awarding each of the non-insured players a shared award amount, the shared award amount computed based on the jackpot amount and a number of winners of the bingo game.
 15. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein the shared award amount is not affected by a number of insured players.
 16. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein the selling sells bingo cards to players with an option surcharge for jackpot insurance.
 17. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein the selling sells a first set of bingo cards with jackpot insurance and a second set of bingo cards without jackpot insurance. 